Stretching Up Towards the Future
by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: For Kairi Week on Tumblr. Taking place after KHII, Sora, Riku, and Kairi try to make up for all their time spent apart. When weird things start occurring, however, they realize that they need to seal the Island's Keyhole as soon as possible. And once there, the multiverse seems to call out to them to lead them towards the roles they'll eventually play. Destiny Trio fic. SoKai. SRK.


**Author's Note: Takes place after KHII—when Sora and Riku are back on the Islands for some time—but nearly right before Dream Drop Distance: as they've just gotten Mickey's letter.**

 **Destiny Trio fic, though there is some slight SoKai and SoRiKai going on here.**

 **Stretching Up Towards the Future**

 **Kairi's PoV**

Kairi… was in love with Sora: something she'd known even back when she'd first drifted towards him in the currents.

And looking back on it now, Kairi could remember how he'd looked down at her concernedly, before asking a quick, "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

Then, and only then, had Sora extended his hand in front of the stunned girl's face, and then moved to help usher her out of the water.

Yeah... that truly had been one of the greatest moments in her life, Kairi realized, almost dreamily now.

Right now, as she sat at her desk in class—knowing well that she oughtta be listening to the lecture, but finding herself unable to in the slightest—the redhead found herself drawing pictures of her two best friends, and the adventures she imagined they must have been on.

And as Kairi quickly opted to hold her pencil high into the air—stretching it this way and that, to try and find _something_ there—she wished that it would fill up with magic like Naminé's own, maybe, so that she could go on a journey next time, too.

It was just when she was having such a thought, too, that Kairi could have _sworn_ she felt a certain part of her mind become less tense; in fact, this certain part of it even seemed to be... at peace.

A certain Nobody smiled in Kairi's mind's eye—sharing her mental space with her—and for that one, single moment, a tear slid down the ginger's face before splattering to the floor.

Kairi knew well that she had to stop acting like this. After all, if she couldn't cut out her sudden surplus of emotion, her Senpai might notice that something was amiss.

However, a certain brunet of hers didn't seem to see the need for subterfuge at all: for behind Kairi, Sora swiftly began moving forward in his seat—easily evidenced by the screeching of the desk against the linoleum floor—and even despite how bad she still felt for Naminé, it was hard for Kairi to not grin at this.

Oh, Sora... He was just such a goof ball! And here Kairi had been worrying about getting into trouble _herself_ , when really she should have been worried for her most oblivious friend in the world!

As it happened, the Keyblade wielder was all ready in some deep water for having disappeared for a year (and it was even harder for the trio that they couldn't tell the adults anything about their travels. As such, the school was very suspicious about both Sora and Riku's predicament, and had only _barely_ let them back into their classes), but here he was: trying to get closer to her, so that they might see each other and keep their promises to Roxas and Naminé.

And just like that, following the rules didn't seem to matter to Kairi at all anymore. And then she found instead that she was moving her _own_ desk closer to the keeper of her heart.

Now she sat right beside Sora, was able to grab his hand into her own, and to begin writing on it with a magic marker.

And this, the usual dutiful princess found, was so much better than paying attention to her studies.

She needed _so_ much to make up on the lost time with her boys, and so she attempted it well.

…

It was a little while after Sora and Kairi's shared Literature class that their school day finally ended.

And, of course, as soon as the bell had rung, the duo had quickly gone to look for their other best friend.

And all the while they did this, Sora kept talking about how _happy_ he was that Kairi had drawn a heart onto his hand.

Throughout the entire day, students had been putting said shape onto the people they really loved or cared about's hands.

And Sora—being the massive sap that he was—kept explaining how Kairi's own artwork reminded him of the journeys he'd been on, and how she'd created the _perfect_ close to those chapters by having done this.

As for Kairi, as she walked with Sora arm in arm—looking up at the summer sky, and the crows that lied there, all the while—she couldn't help but laugh, feeling completely thrilled with herself.

Winking at Sora, as she threw their entwined hands into the air, Kairi told him simply the truth: "I really didn't do anything special at all, Sora. And everyone was all ready doing this, so you probably easily could've gotten Selphie, Tidus, or Wakka to help." Sora shrugged slightly at Kairi's words, as if he only now seeing the truth of them.

And only as the couple reached the gurgling fountain at the front of the schoolyard—the bright baby blue of it contrasting much with the yellow sky—did the spiky-haired-brunet scratch the back of his head sheepishly and say, "Yeah. Maybe... But you have better penmanship than everyone else, Kai! 'Sides, you're the only one—besides Riku, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, and the King, I mean—who really understands how I wish… How I wish that the heart you drew on me was the one that Roxas had had to give back. Who knows? Maybe… maybe this way he could've kept his own life.

"But, anyway! That's a thought for another time, isn't it? And at least we're making Roxas and Nami happy by being together like this—Oh, look: there's Riku!"

Lo and behold, just as Sora mentioned him, Riku appeared out of the ether. It looked as though he'd reached the school's exit long before they had, and was now simply just waiting for them to catch up.

The way that Riku's messenger bag hung low on his shoulder worried Kairi some, however: she remembered how he'd apparently broken his wrist, and had had no one to set it properly, after his fight with Roxas.

…And his eyes seemed to be seeing something that hers and Sora's weren't.

Promising herself that she'd ask Sora about his weird change of subject later, Kairi decided to focus on running to Riku and seeing what was up with him first—Sora not a far cry behind her.

As Kairi called out to him, and waved this way and that, she had the benefit of seeing Riku's eyes widening fractionally, and his lips turning up into a reluctant smile.

But as his attention quickly turned to her and Sora's entwined hands, Kairi nearly jumped fifty feet into the air.

 _It isn't- it isn't what it looks like_ , Kairi mentally argued what Riku was probably thinking, as she let go of Sora's hand and turned away from the boys' concerned looks, feeling awkward.

" _Anyway_ ," Riku muttered with a tone in his voice that made it clear that if Kairi wasn't going to start the conversation like he'd thought she was going to, he would do so. "It's good to see that you two are finally out of that god forsaken place. Now... notice anything that seems a bit different about school today?"

At once, Kairi thought she might have sensed where her silver-haired friend was going with this. The sky wasn't the right color for the time of year they were now in, was it?

Furthermore, the birds that Princess of Heart was now noticing on the school's roof looked a lot like Heartless; Kairi desperately wished it wasn't so, but had either of the boys even _bothered_ sealing the Islands' Keyhole after getting home?

"Uhh... the people seem to be obsessed with hearts today, like the Organization was, but have found a more effective way to make them than thru 'KH'?" Sora questioned—cocking his head to the side, before he straightened up and grabbed onto Kairi's hand again.

Her heart threatened to begin pounding a mile a minute for the contact, but Kairi knew Sora was probably just trying to drive his point home: she had had a heart drawn onto her during the school day, too, after all.

"No, you idiot!" Riku snapped at Sora—a bit too cruelly in Kairi's opinion, and so she moved to brush some of his hair out of his face, to maybe somewhat make up for the insult.

(And when Sora turned to face her gratefully then—a warm look on his face, the like of which Kairi had never seen before—Kairi may or may not have thought he was debating kissing her then, before she willed herself to focus on the matter at hand.)

"Good try, Sora," Riku slightly amended—therefore distracting the other two teens, and acting as though he now understood Kairi had been offended by his brash words.

For that, Kairi smiled the slightest bit, and leaned closer to Riku.

"But what I'm really referring to is _not_ the student body's heart-shaped art, and not even Kingdom Hearts… that you strangely abbreviated in that sentence, Sora, _but_ … that we need to seal this world's Keyhole right now."

"Why didn't you just do so yourself, then?" Kairi asked callously, before she could stop herself—stepping away from both of her boys reluctantly as she did so, and instantly missing the warmth she'd gotten from Sora's hand in hers, when she instead placed it into the water to play with the fishies.

"I mean... I know that you sometimes don't think you deserve all of this with the Keyblade, Riku—which you totally do, by the way—but it seems to me that our world should be the one you'd want to lock most of all.

"I mean, were it not for you, we never would have gone on this fun adventure together, or have gotten the chance to help people the way we did. So you closing the door, when you'd originally opened it… Well, it just seems like proper bookends to me."

And when Kairi looked up and away from the pink colored water—a particularly cute, red fish swimming over her hand just as she looked away—Kairi was shocked to find that Riku was openly _bowing_ to her of all things!

And Sora... Sora looked _proud_ of her.

She blinked in utmost confusion. What? Had they both thought she'd be mean, and _blame_ Riku for Destiny Island's fall or something?

Kairi could have never even _fathomed_ that.

And also… weren't they possibly running out of time to safeguard their beloved world, in just sitting around like this?

After all, though Kairi was mostly certain that it was birds she was seeing on the roof, what if some of them _were_ Heartless? What then?

"And on that note," Sora said, throwing a fist into the air, while he kept the other hand on his hip. "To the Secret Place we go!"

…

 **Sora's PoV**

The Play Island looked exactly how Sora remembered it, which… in some ways was cool, he supposed, as it wouldn't have felt right if everything had changed while he'd been adventuring.

But at the same time? The Keyblade master wouldn't have exactly minded if there'd been some renovations to make it even neater.

As Sora headed towards the cave that he'd found with Riku—what felt like a long time ago—with his two best friends, Sora remembered how the place had originally just been meant for him and Riku: a promise he and Riku had both ended up breaking when Kairi had joined the picture.

And if Riku at all resented him for being the first to let Kairi in, he didn't show it. Instead, he walked with his hands in his pockets, whistling a quiet little ditty, and acting like he was trying his best to be what a denizen of Light "ought to be".

Maybe, in doing this, he thought the Keyblade would return to him for sure? That idea seemed right to Sora, as he didn't exactly understand how the Keyblade changing from an intermediary item worked, but it was also confusing.

After all, the brunet had thought that Riku had gotten over his self-loathing ages ago, and that that was how he'd ended up getting Way to the Dawn, but apparently Riku had other ideas bout it?

"So," Kairi said after whistling some herself, though it sounded more like a "wheet-whoo" type thing to Sora; she also seemed to be feeling a lot happier herself, which instantly made Sora smile. "Do you two hate going to that embankment leading up to the Secret Place as much as I do?"

And just like that, Sora found himself tilting his head back and laughing uproariously.

Really, Sora knew that he probably shouldn't have been, as he knew Kairi probably had a good reason for relating this to them now (maybe even for how sad and lonely it must have been when she'd gone into the place alone to add to the drawing, Sora thought), but he couldn't help it. Every now and then, he just needed to laugh and look at the positive things, it seemed.

And as for Kairi adding to their drawing… though Sora and her had now talked about it some—and he thought me might have understood somewhat what she'd been feeling then, as he'd felt it too as he'd looked up at her over the Island, desperately calling out her name before they'd been parted—he still couldn't help feeling that she'd had it worse than any of them.

He, after all—unlike the Princess herself-hadn't experienced their year apart like she had, since he'd been sleeping in the memory pod for a year...

So, if Kairi now had a vendetta against their secret place, he wasn't going to knock her for it. Instead… maybe he could jokingly give some reasons as to why he didn't like the area, and make her smile that way?

Seeing her happy again, after how somber she'd seemed to grow lately, definitely seemed like a good idea in Sora's book.

So nodding his head to himself enthusiastically, he decided on what he needed to do.

"Sorry!" he amended, when he noted the indignant look that Kairi was currently sporting in his direction—much to Riku's mirth, it seemed. "I didn't—I didn't mean that in the way it sounded. I know you have reason to maybe even hate that place place, Iri.

" _But_ I guess you just amused me a little, because I sometimes don't like going into that cave, either. The vines draping over the entrance always make me feel like spiders are going to fall onto my head from it or something."

Normally, Sora might have said such a girlish comment in a somewhat humiliated manner. But after having said some even weirder and more outlandish things before coming back to the Island—he still wondered what had possessed him to tell Shang and Mulan to "play nice" that time-he'd learnt to be a lot more comfortable with some of the words he said: even if some of his friends sometimes thought him idiotic for saying them.

Coming up to the said hidden area now, the trio paused right outside of it, and got into a huddle.

The cave's entrance always looked like that of a bat's wing to Sora: a bat wing getting ready to delve into an unsuspecting victim's neck.

He grinned. Okay, so maybe there were some things about this place he was completely behind, after all: this and his and Kairi's drawing, of course.

"You are, without a doubt, the most ludicrous person in the world, Sora," Riku snapped, though not without care.

And after earning the satisfaction of belittling him (a game that Riku, Kairi and many others loved to play amongst themselves, Sora swore it!), Riku wove Sora and Kairi's looks off, and then ducked low to go through the small door—he himself not seeming to be afraid of spiders in the slightest.

In fact, the way his arms seemed to soar backward with his movement almost seemed to make it look like he was imitating the butterfly stroke.

 _Only Riku_ , Sora thought floored, with a shake of his head.

But in knowing that he was right about one thing: that they _shouldn't_ have been wasting time right now, but rather checking out the cave pronto, Sora bowed low, ushering for Kairi to go in ahead of him, but waited for her to now freak out about his "spiders" comment nonetheless.

And Kairi, to her credit, though she turned to look at Sora thoughtfully at first—her fingers draped over her mouth in shock, as he had clearly given her new horrid thoughts to think about in the Secret Place—quickly shrugged it off and made her way after Riku.

Chuckling slightly, for a reason he didn't even entirely know, Sora attempted to hurry after them, but turned one last look to the calmly lit pink sky above him.

The first step he took into the cave succeeded in making Sora look like a fool: he tripped down the winding path, banged himself into a number of rough walls, and crashed headlong into Riku and Kairi like they were bowling pins.

And though part of Sora was just ecstatic that it wasn't _him_ at the bottom of the totem pole for change, he still felt really, _really_ guilty.

"I'm so sorry, you guys!" Sora stammered, as he hastily got to his feet, and offered Kairi a hand.

He would have offered one to Riku, too, but with the kind of mood the older boy was in right now, Sora had no doubt that Riku would just punch him if he even attempted it. "I lost my balance, and couldn't see where I was going, and— Hey. Wait a minute! Since when can we see stars like that through the hole in the ceiling?"

Riku scowled. And though Sora reasoned he might have actually been curious about this new development, he still didn't dignify the question with any sort of answer.

Kairi, on the other hand—after having thanked Sora for the help—looked up towards the direction Sora had indicated, and dusted herself off some.

"Doesn't this seem..." Sora whispered then—his voice almost working on its own accord, as something at the edge of his memory called out to him. "Doesn't this seem familiar?

White circles dotted onto a navy blue surface... I swear I've seen something like this before. Like a tapestry, maybe? Or maybe like the kind of material shielding the tents in Deep Jungle? I don't—I don't know."

And if Sora would have had any idea how fearful Kairi would look at him then, as she clung to him and tried her best to bring him back to the present, he never would have said any of those words.

As it happened, the redhead's eyes were widened, and had even seemed to turn a chalky blue color—a shade so different from the violet one that Sora was used to.

A white pallor seemed to overtake the girl, too, and now it was _she_ who was walking to the mouth of the cave, as if she'd been hypnotized.

The moonlight, that was just starting to spill in from the space above them, seemed to Sora like a tether that was meant to latch onto Kairi, and then snatch her away into space.

Biting his lip subconsciously, because he'd all ready seen Riku battle with and lose against a force far greater than himself—and maybe… maybe he'd even seen it happen to some other people, too—Sora meant to grab onto Kairi and restrain her.

Heck, he would've even shaken her, if he'd thought that that would help even the slightest bit, but instead he ended up doing no thing at all.

As it was, as Sora was frozen in place—wondering what in the world could've gotten hold of a Princess of Heart, and how you could even stop that—Riku came to the rescue: grabbing a hold of Kairi with his own shaky hands, he drew her backwards, before casting a worried and meaningful look in Sora's direction.

"Up and at 'em, Kai," Riku attempted to say jovially to her. And it was as he did so that Sora wondered just when his best friend had become such a good liar.

Perhaps in (wrongfully) thinking he'd messed up royally, and should therefore hide himself from his two best friends for the rest of eternity, he had developed the skill? If that was the case, Sora never wanted Riku to have to think like that _again_.

And now he felt bad that Riku was lying to try and wake Kairi up. What if that triggered some of his bad memories or something?

It should have been him bearing the burden and taking care of his friends, Sora thought. He should have truthfully telling her that everything would be all right, and—

Sora was more than grateful for his best friend's efforts, don't get him wrong, but he was also worried about what it must have cost him.

Finally, Kairi's features seemed to return to normal. Her hair began blowing loosely in the calm breeze, whereas the strands and seemed stiff and pointed just a moment before, and Sora breathed a quite breath of relief.

Smiling, the princess looked at the two boys beside her curiously. And it was clear in her eyes that she had no idea what had just happened to her.

Sora—he didn't like babying Kairi, he really didn't, but… maybe it was best she'd forgotten what had just grabbed them all.

Riku, of all people, was now muttering the name "Sera", or some such thing, after having grabbed onto Kairi. And if he couldn't even bear what had just happened to them all, how could someone as lighthearted as Kairi do so at all?

"What do you guys think that all was just now?" Riku asked suddenly. Apparently he, unlike Sora, was giving up on the pretense of keeping dangerous news from Kairi.

And as much as Sora sometimes felt it was his sworn duty to protect Kairi—and that it was right that he did so—he couldn't deny how guilty it often made him to see the betrayed look come across her face when she learned the truth.

If it all really _was_ just between those two options, Sora decided that he'd choose to see her happy any day. He'd just have to work extra hard to protect her now, was all…

"I mean," Riku continued on—completely heedless to the internal battle raging on in Sora's head, and the way that Kairi was cocking her head to the side curiously. "Do you think maybe all of this has to do with the message that Mickey sent us, about the people connected to us?"

At that, Sora couldn't help but throw his index finger up into the air in agreement, and to nod his head aggressively.

Kairi, on the other hand, seemed to be considering it all.

Sora was much the same way, personally; all this news about the people connected to them was very mysterious, and even seemed to stir something deep within him.

The King had said that the quest they were about to go on would end up being their most dangerous one yet.

But even so... when Sora thought about the people that he, Riku, and even Kairi might be able to help, he felt peaceful about it all. Happy, even.

And now… a large grin spread across his face, as he thought about his impending adventure, and he knew that what he was about to do was right.

"Do you mean that maybe we were seeing those people's memories or something like that?" Kairi questioned, seeming to put Riku's scattered thoughts into words with little effort at all.

To it, though, Riku shrugged—as if to say he wasn't exactly sure, but there did seem to be something in his gaze, Sora noted.

The, Riku hastily stepped away from Kairi, as if only just realizing how close he'd been standing to her before. Sora laughed; his friend could be such an awkward dork sometimes.

Ignoring this completely, however, Riku strode towards the large, tan door in front of them: the reason they'd first come here to begin with.

"I don't know about that exactly, but in any case I can sense that something big is on the horizon," Riku said, as he brought a hand up to run through his hair—showing off all the calluses on his skin as he did so.

Yeah... with all that Riku had been through, Sora didn't doubt in the slightest that his best friend had developed a sixth sense about some things. He had, too, after all, Sora thought—clutching the blue crystal orb in his pocket as he did so.

"…But we can worry about that later. Right now, we need to seal this Keyhole before what we were imagining earlier becomes a reality."

And without waiting another moment, Riku summoned Way to the Dawn to his right hand—twirling shocks of bluish light appearing as he did so—and pointed it at the Keyhole that had only just come to life.

The Keyhole closed with a quick flash of light, that further proved to Sora that Riku really was a denizen of Light like them, and that anyone who thought differently clearly didn't know him.

The resounding click that sounded with the action was also music to Sora's ears for another reason: Good. Their home was now safe, and would never be lost again.

And maybe there was a part of Sora that wished he had seen to its safety himself—because all the dreams he had once had had hinted to that fact, maybe—but he'd choose Riku finding a sense of pride over himself any day.

"You know..." Kairi started then—her eyes still seeming to be a bit unfocused, as they flittered all over the place, as if trying to decipher something crucial. "Not to bring some bad luck on prematurely, but that seemed a bit too easy."

And as it happened, Sora found he had to somewhat agree with that. Maybe he'd just become paranoid, but with how hard it had been to fight to—and to seal—the Keyholes in the other worlds, the Keyblade's chosen couldn't shake the feeling that their world was about to become booby trapped in retribution, maybe.

But a moment later, when nothing bad had yet to happen, Sora thought that maybe he should count his blessings while he had them, and quickly escape with his two best friends as soon as possible.

"Let's just get out of here," was Sora's answer to Kairi's words—Kingdom Key nearly appearing in his hand of its own volition, in response to his apprehension and perhaps something else.

And idly, Sora had to wonder if maybe Destiny's Embrace was fighting to get to Kairi. He still wasn't sure what had happened to that Key—or if it was truly Kairi's at all—but if the Keyblade had whispered its name to her, like he knew it had, Sora supposed it had to be hers and hers alone.

And oddly enough—though it had been Riku who had insisted a number of years ago that Sora should never give up the location to this sacred place to anyone else—it was he who was the first one to opt and leave the place, after hearing Sora's words.

In fact, he even seemed to be gloating a bit, as he smirked at him and Kairi both, Sora noticed—something the brunet instantly wanted to pummel him for—as if thinking the fifteen-year-old's were being silly for being so fearful.

Buteven though Sora was _clearly_ not afraid, he found that he couldn't stand another moment in this cave right now (though he did spare one more appreciative look to the mural that he and Kairi had drawn of each other, a loving smile appearing on his face as he did so), and so he filed off after Riku—Kairi not too far behind them.

Which is why it came as such a surprise to Sora, when she actually made her way in front of him and then opted to put her arms around him and Riku both.

Kairi totally gave the best hugs, Sora thought.

And now—as he and Riku both merrily took in the warmth of her embrace, and the greatness of being together again after such a long time—Sora couldn't figure out why they all hadn't done something similar to this years ago, instead of squabbling over stupid things like the name of the raft.

"I dunno about you guys," Kairi suddenly said cheekily, though the way she looked up to the sky thoughtfully—with an inquisitive and appreciative look in her eyes—seemed to speak more of Naminé than anyone else. "But I thought today was going to be a lot different."

As Sora's face accidentally brushed Kairi's as they began walking—in which case he had to resist the urge to scratch the back of his head awkwardly—he found that he had to agree.

With the way Kairi had been so sad about Naminé's fate earlier, Sora had thought for sure she'd demand they find a way to save the blonde Nobody that very instant.

And then, when Riku had said they needed to seal the world's Keyhole—and the three of them had seen the things that looked like Heartless—Sora had been fearful that they'd have a war on their hands.

And even with some things after that... Sora had expected more questions and disasters to result from them, but here the three of them were: having one of their best days in ages.

And yet... some of the fears he'd had still seemed to ring true about their future. "I think..." Sora began, turning to Kairi now, as he felt as much sympathy about his Other that Kairi did about hers. "I think we started a lot of important things today, though. Someday soon, I think, this will all get continued and made right. And though I _wish_ it could just be today…. Well, some things are meant to be a certain way, I think. And later, we'll probably even be glad that we made the decisions we did today."

 _A lot of the worst people I've met would have never even stopped to_ consider _how to help others_ , Sora thought—his mind remembering a certain vizier that had come back twice, and had done nothing but torment Aladdin, Jasmine, and their friends both times.

No doubt if Aladdin had been _Jafar's_ Nobody, the villain wouldn't have had a second thought about the "Street Rat's" sad fate.

But then again... maybe he would have, if things had been different, Sora thought as he scratched the top of his head in thought—feeling like he was now on the same track Goofy had been, when he'd said if everyone's hearts were full of goodness then the Heartless would go away.

"Ugh. You are _such_ a sap!" Riku lamented, while the three of them finally made it to the dock, and began dropping into their little boats.

"I don't know why I hang out with you guys," the older boy continued on dramatically, now brandishing the oar he had in hand at Sora accusingly.

However, the weird look that Riku was aiming at the brown tinted water seemed to tell Sora that Riku was actually _ecstatic_ that he had friends like Kairi and himself.

"Sora's right about all he said, though," Kairi slightly reprimanded Riku, as she reached across her boat to take Sora's hand in her own again.

For a moment, Sora debated about getting flustered about this, like he thought he probably should've been, but when he noticed that Kairi seemed to want to tell him something very important, he began focusing on her words more than anything else. Riku, too.

"And don't pretend, Riku, that you weren't thinking of someone yourself earlier, that you want to be eventually healed by us. Someone you maybe even made a promise to?

"Well, we're gonna find them, Riku. Even if you don't want to tell us more about him, we'll find him and help you in any way that we can. Always."

And only much later would Sora realize how perfect it was that Kairi—one of the reasons that Riku himself had cited that he wanted to see worlds—had comforted him about his first one.

But in the present, Sora just relished in the feel of Kairi's strong and reassuring grip in his own, Riku's stunned yet hopeful silence (as he looked at Kairi with a new kind of awe), and how the sky above them had seemed to open up in that exact moment, to let in the lights from other worlds—and to hint at the million unforeseen possibilities and memories to come.

 **Author's Note: One of my favorite pieces I've ever done, actually, as I tried my BEST to make this as close to canon as possible, and I hope it shows.**

 **Umm… the title is a reference to how the sky stretching above them in the cave—causing all three of them to start to remember things—is what eventually ties them to their future.**

 **Also, for those confused. No, there weren't Heartless on the roof. They really were just birds. And for the most part, the sky changing color means nothing (though the three feared that it did): it was just being wonky for some reason. XD**

 **The only time it really matters is when they're in the secret place, as Kingdom Hearts seems to be showing them their destiny, kind of.**

 **Like, Sora is remembering some stuff about Ven there, in case you were confused (a.k.a. the beginning of BbS, when Ventus' looking up at the stars of LoD and saying, "Why does this seem so familiar?"), Kairi—who makes up part of the Light in the new Kingdom Hearts—is then drawn in by the entire multiverse's power, basically. And when Riku touches her, it jumpstarts the memory of Terra inside of him somewhat (though not completely, as he calls him "Sera" instead of "Terra").**

 **So about that whole part of the story where everyone is having their own "Snarl of Memories" scene, basically. Here's why I wrote it: because Blank Points bothers me. How easily Kairi sees Sora and Riku off for their next adventure, I mean, so part of this story is my way of explaining why she does that and doesn't go with them.**

 **The first reason is that Kairi's reaction in the cave here sort of scares Sora and Riku both, so they don't want to bring her into this new mission, maybe—though they kind of suspect and respect it'll most likely happen eventually, anyway, as it does happen in canon—and also because they don't know if Destiny's Embrace is hers or not, or if she can even summon it. Yeah…**

 **What else to say? I wanted Sora to think more about his Disney adventures here, and compare it to the canon story some—something I think doesn't get done enough in the actual games (hence the Jafar part)?**

 **And yes, I somewhat changed the line of Goofy's that Sora remembers. It's actually, "If everyone's hearts were made up of light, then them Heartless would go away"—or something close to it—but since at this point Sora should know that Darkness itself isn't inherently evil, I changed the "Light" part to "goodness" for Sora's new way of thinking.**

 **So, yeah: I hope you guys enjoyed this! I think that it's a good addition to Kairi Week, maybe.**

 **And I tell you what… in a lot of ways, fate didn't want me to get this story up. Because I'd originally edited most of this a LONG time ago, but my laptop got hacked by a Russian virus, I believe, that made the whole thing get corrupted and inaccessible.**

 **After that, I completely gave up on this story for a long time.**

 **…And also because originally when I was working on this, it was when I was at the nursing home to help take care of my grandma, which means this story's very painful and personal for me in a lot of ways.**

 **Filled with a lot of bad memories for me, too, tbh…**

 **But I finally persevered and posted it anyway, so I really hope it's worth it to y'all:)**

 **Happy Kairi Week; and may we all work together to give this girl the chance in canon that she so rightly deserves:D**

 **Edit: As it turns out, fanfiction ate this story, and now I'm worried that thoughts in it aren't italicized. Hopefully they all are...**


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